


so free not even the sky can keep us down

by Loxare



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: A New Hope rewrite, Fix It, Gen, Han Organa Solo, Han adopted by the Organas, Han's backstory is Legends compliant, Han's hair is amazing, Inspired by a text post on tumblr, It's my canon and I can disregard it as I please, Leia Whitesun, Luke Biwalker, Luke and Leia Raised Together, Oh no he's hot.jpg, Pilot Leia, Pilot Luke, Princess Han, Role Swap AU, to a degree
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:48:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22837303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loxare/pseuds/Loxare
Summary: Luke and Leia were raised together on Tatooine and Owen, unable to contain the power of two entire Skywalkers, allows them to go to Anchorhead to earn money to keep the farm afloat.Bail and Breha Organa adopt a young pickpocket from Corellia.This changes more than anyone involved would realize.
Relationships: Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker & Han Solo
Comments: 22
Kudos: 161





	so free not even the sky can keep us down

The fact of the matter was, moisture farming wasn't a very profitable business, even on a planet like Tatooine where water was more valuable than gold. And on a farm the size that Owen Lars had inherited from his father, he could gain enough income to comfortably support three people, without having to look for additional work. And while he would never call the gifts that were his niece and nephew a misfortune, it was misfortunate that as they got older, he was finding it more and more difficult to be able to feed all of them.

And so, although his heart burned to keep them close, to keep them safe, he trained them to shoot womp rats, and Beru taught them how to drive the speeders. And when Luke and Leia turned sixteen, he let them go to Anchorhead to earn some extra income for the farm.

He should have known better. Not only because their father could have walked into a room full of nerfs and found trouble, but because he had raised those children, and knew they were much worse. Luke would notice something. Leia would dare him to do something about it. Shoot it, race it, insult its shoes. Luke would either counter dare her, or up the ante. Whoever they'd insulted or challenged would laugh, because they were children. And Leia would lose her temper.

So two days later when the twins parked the speeder back in the garage, Owen wished he could have been surprised. There were blaster burns on their clothes, they were scruffy and dirty, but largely uninjured, and they were carrying a large stack of credits. Which Luke had won by betting on Leia in a race. They were grounded for two months, but eventually even those credits dried up and it was either let them earn or starve.

Sometimes they came back with a reasonable amount of credits, that they earned by bartending for an evening or by helping to rebuild a fence. More often, they came back with an unreasonable amount of credits earned by racing, gambling, smuggling and on one instance, being paid to mildly inconvenience someone. Owen didn't like it, but he was a practical man. They needed the income. And now that the twins had had a taste of life, it would be impossible to keep them on the farm. With reluctance, he allowed them to keep going. To Anchorhead. To Mos Eisley.

It was with even greater reluctance that he sent them to Old Ben. Ben Kenobi had been pestering Owen for years to train them in the ways of the Force. He finally allowed it on the condition that they not be taught anything offensive. Strictly defensive techniques, and nothing about their father. He didn't need to fuel their fires any more than they already were.

It was selfish, maybe, to keep them close. But he loved them with all his heart. They were the children he and Beru had been unable to have. They called him uncle, but in his heart they were son and daughter. He simply wanted a few more years with them.

They started going out for longer stretches. Smuggling took time, and he and Beru didn't see them for weeks at a time. But they commed every night, to say they were ok, as Beru had asked. And soon enough, they didn't need the credits anymore. They had enough to last for years. But Owen could no more stop them then he could stop the twin suns from rising, and out they went again.

But they always returned home.

Once they returned in a junk heap of a ship. One Leia had won in a card game, and that Luke claimed was faster than Owen could believe. But it was their own ship. They could take even more jobs, rather than only the ones where the client provided the transport and simply needed a pilot. They could be truly free. The first free-born children of their line, and not even the skies could contain them.

Owen decided that, with him and Beru getting older and the twins not around to help as much, it was time to get some more droids to help around the farm. And so the next time Luke and Leia were home, Luke who had a much better eye for machines than Owen and Leia who could bargain the Jawas down faster than anyone, he bought two.

Which was where the problems truly started.

Breha and Bail Organa, Queen and Prince Consort of Alderaan, had not had much luck having biological children. Which was only an issue for the foreign diplomats who wanted to look down on them for something.

Their first child came to them from tragedy. Bail's aide and close friend Sheltay Retrac and her husband both died of illness, leaving a young daughter behind. The Organas took Winter in and gave her as much love as they could in her time of grief.

Shortly after, they adopted their second child. Older than Winter by six years, Han Solo had been caught trying to pickpocket Bail during an ambassadorial visit to Corellia. He was arrested and brought to the embassy to await transfer to Corellian holding, but after a few minutes discussion with the boy, Bail found a quick mind and a good heart. It was a snap decision, but something told him it was a right one.

Han's adoption came with a few complications of course. A man claiming himself to be Han's guardian tried to blackmail the royal family, and was summarily arrested. An old Wookie female moved into the palace kitchens and refused to leave until she was certain that Han was well cared for. She was offered a permanent position.

Han learned royal customs quickly, and was an excellent older brother to Winter. Although he did not wish to inherit, preferring to leave the politics to his younger sister, he applied himself in his lessons on art, history, court graces and diplomacy. He did insist on training Winter on how to use a blaster, and how to fight dirty. In response, Breha hired a tutor to teach them self defense.

The only point of contention was with his hair. Custom dictated that all royal personages wear their hair long and braided. Bail could abstain as he had married into the family, but Han could not. He agreed readily enough, but was uncomfortable until Breha told him that regardless of how he did his hair, he would always be her son.

Han's shy smile that day had both warmed and broken her heart. She hoped to fill his life with all the love he had missed in his early childhood. When Han decided again to grow his hair out, Breha made sure to make time every morning to braid it for him.

For ten wonderful years, Bail and Breha sheltered their children from the war. And then Han came home from a diplomatic inspection of the Imperial Academy with a former slave named Chewbacca and demanded to help.

Breha longed to keep her children safe and sound, but trusted that they knew their own minds. Han was twenty one, an adult in their culture, and could make his own decisions.

And so Bail contacted a few old friends. And Han Organa Solo became a spy.

(His sister, not to be left behind, started the year after him.)

And in his third year of field work, his ship intercepted a transmission from Scarif.

Han resisted the urge to headbutt the trooper next to him. While satisfying, it would hurt him more than the trooper. And the soft slippers he was wearing wouldn't be the best for a shin kicking either. Next time, if there was a next time, he was going to tell Threepio exactly which Corellian hell he could stick the clothing traditions into. At least the wide legged pants were easy to move in. The dress Threepio had laid out for him that morning would have been far too constricting.

Behind him, Chewie growled at the trooper pulling him along, which made Han feel a lot better. At least he wasn't in this alone.

And then the door whooshed open and Darth Vader strode in and Han's heart sank. His relief turned to regret, for dragging Chewie into this with him. And then anger. If this bucket of bolts thought he could hurt either of them and get away with it, he had another thing coming. "Attacking a diplomatic mission is a good way to get the Imperial Senate out for your engine grease, Lord Vader," Han snarled. "This is a peacef-"

"Don't lie to me, Your Highness. You weren't on any mercy mission this time." Vader's breathing rattled through the vocoder as he spoke, like a faulty A47 engine. "Several transmissions were beamed to this ship by rebel spies. I want to know what happened to the plans they sent you."

Han put on his best offended face. "What plans? As I tried to tell you, this is a peaceful ship, on a diplomatic mission from Alderaan."

Vader's hand came up and it took everything Han had not to flinch. But he just waved a finger accusingly in Han's face. "You are part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor! Take them away!" He gestured dismissively at the troopers.

Han fought against the hands holding him for just long enough to yell back, "Saying it loudly won't make it true!" Then he fell into step with the troopers.

Chewie yelled back his own, very rude, comment at Vader's retreating back. 

And Han felt fear settle into his heart, right next to the hope that his droids would get to Obi Wan.

“Obi Wan Kenobi?” Luke stared at the holo of the man in white. “I wonder if he means Old Ben Kenobi.”

Leia nodded thoughtfully. “Could be a relative.”

C 3P0 looked shocked, or as shocked as a droid with a static face could look. “Do you know who he’s talking about?”

“Yeah, the hermit out by the Dune Sea.” Leia leaned forward a bit, looking closer at the holo. “Well whoever this guy is, he’s attractive.”

Luke took his own closer look. “Oh, he is.” Very attractive. Even through the terrible quality of the holo, Luke could see that. “Is there more to the message? Sounds like he’s in trouble.” He grabbed a spanner and reached for the R2 unit.

The droid let out a series of disappointed whistles. Luke’s binary wasn’t great yet, but he got the gist. “The restraining bolt, huh? Oh, well-” He reached behind him for a screwdriver.

“Luke.” Leia grabbed the instrument before he could. She gave him a look, the one that told him that he should think for half a second. Right, yeah, dumb idea. “We’ve got some time before supper. Why don’t we go invite Ben over?”

Luke’s nose wrinkled. “Are you sure? Aunt Beru is making goulash tonight.” Aunt Beru was a wonderful cook, as was Uncle Owen. However, her goulash was an… acquired taste. One Luke and Leia had acquired years ago, but Ben hadn’t had that luxury.

“It has to be better than whatever hermit food he makes himself.” Leia and Luke shared a glance, then shuddered. They’d stayed at Ben’s for supper once, when a lesson had run late, and had regretted it for several days after. “I’ll go ask Aunt Beru.”

Luke nodded. “I’ll finish up here.”

Once the droids were clean and the permission was granted, Luke and Leia headed for the speeder. When they got in sight of it, they both shouted, “I call driver’s,” with Luke just a hair ahead of Leia. She scowled at his sunny grin.

It was getting late, and the sand people were probably starting to come out. As Luke pulled out of the farm, Leia unholstered her blaster and kept it in hand.

It was a quiet ten minutes. But as they got closer to the Jundland wastes, Luke spotted movement. “Sand people.”

“I see them.” Leia kept the blaster in the speeder, and a close eye on the sand people. The twins did have a reputation, but there was always the chance these particular sand people hadn’t heard about it, or didn’t think it was true. Luckily, it seemed like they had. The speeder passed through with no troubles.

They parked just outside of Ben’s hovel, inhaled, and called out together, “Ben!”

“What? What?” Ben poked his head out. “Oh, it’s you two. Hello!”

“Hey Ben, did you want to come over for dinner tonight? Aunt Beru’s making goulash.”

Luke winced. Telling Ben that Aunt Beru was making goulash wasn’t a great way to get him to come. And sure enough, he looked doubtful. “While I’m sure your aunt’s goulash sounds…”

“What were you going to have for dinner, Ben,” Leia asked, the picture of innocence.

It was Ben’s turn to wince. “Well, I’ve been told that variety is the spice of life. And a meal I don’t have to cook myself sounds lovely.” He went back inside for a minute, then climbed into the back of the speeder.

Luke waited until they’d passed the sand people before asking, “You were going to try making soup again, weren’t you?”

“I was not.”

Leia grinned. “You were. How do you keep messing up soup?”

“I do not mess up soup.”

“Uh huh.” Leia stood up in the speeder a bit and fired her blaster. Ahead of them, a womp rat screamed. Luke detoured so they could pick it up. “Seriously, you just throw things into a pot and let it cook. It’s not difficult.”

“If it’s not difficult then I must not have messed it up.”

“Messing up soup is a big waste of water Ben. You should try making something else.”

“You’re both terrible students. Have you no respect for your teacher?”

“Oh loads of respect,” said Luke as he pulled back into the farm. “Enough to respectfully decline if you try and feed us.”

“And stay a respectful distance from your cooking fire,” Leia added. “Remember that time it exploded?” She slung the womp rat over her shoulder and took it to the chiller.

“Or that other time it exploded?”

“Terrible students.”

Aunt Beru’s goulash was about the same as always. But a little better for having company over, even if Owen, Beru and Ben kept giving each other significant looks over the dinner table, like they had every single time Ben came over. After supper, Aunt Beru went to go clean the womp rat and Uncle Owen went to tinker with the vaporators, which left Luke and Leia free to drag Ben down to the maintenance area.

The droids hadn’t moved much, just positioned themselves closer to the window. When they entered, R2D2 beeped excitedly. C 3P0 gave them a little wave. “Welcome back Master Luke, MIstress Leia. And who might this be?”

Ben ignored the droid. “So what did you drag me down here for, younglings?”

Leia smiled a bit at the old nickname. “The droids. The little one says he used to belong to Obi Wan Kenobi, and we were wondering if he was a relative of yours.”

Ben froze at the name. So he did know it. He smiled, though it seemed a bit forced. “Obi Wan? Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time.”

Luke’s eyes sparkled. “So you know who he is?”

“Of course I know him. He’s me.” Ben – Obi Wan? – pointed at his chest as he said this. “But I haven’t gone by Obi Wan since before you two were born.” He frowned a bit at the droids. “And I don’t remember ever owning a droid.” Carefully, he sat down on the room’s only chair.

R2D2 whistled at Ben. Leia raised her eyebrow. “Well he sure seems to know you. I’ve never seen a droid so loyal.”

Luke raised a screwdriver. “Can we-?” He let the question dangle.

“Might as well. I want to see that message too.” Leia took a seat on a crate, and Luke knelt in front of R2D2.

In a few seconds, the restraining bolt was off, and the droid started the message. The handsome man from before slowly fizzled into view. “ _General Kenobi. I am the son of Breha and Bail Organa. I was told you served my father in the Clone Wars, and I regret that I must ask your help again. My ship is under attack by Imperial troopers, and I will not be able to bring you to Alderaan myself. Inside this astromech droid is information vital to the survival of the Alliance._ ” There was a distant crash, and the holo wobbled a bit. The man shouted at someone off screen. “ _Just a few seconds longer Chewie! Where was I? Oh, right. Please, see this droid to my father on Alderaan. Obi Wan Kenobi, please. You’re my last hope._ ” And the message ended.

There was a considering silence. Leia picked up a few thoughts from Luke’s mind, and they echoed hers. _Hot guy needs help. Gotta help the hot guy, save the Alliance._ “Ok. So we need to get these droids to Alderaan.”

Luke nodded. “But we can’t leave Uncle Owen in the lurch. He needs the droids to fix the vaporators on the south ridge.”

“Hm.” Leia considered. “So tomorrow we go to Mos Eisley and pick up the Falcon. While we do that, the droids can start on the vaporators.”

“And if we stop by the Jawas on the way back, we can get-”

“-another droid for Uncle Owen. So we aren’t leaving him with-”

“-no help at all.”

“Younglings please,” Ben cut in. “Slow down.”

Leia startled. She hadn’t even realized she and Luke had been finishing each other’s sentences. “Sorry Ben.”

Ben smiled gratefully. “So you’re planning to take the droids to Alderaan?”

Luke nodded. “And you, if you want to go. The message did ask you.”

“And it’s not like we have a job right now,” Leia added. “Oh, maybe we can pick up some good Alderaan water while we’re there. Uncle Owen could sell it for a mint.”

“Ooh, yeah.”

“If you could take me, I’d be most grateful. I just need to grab a few things from my home before we go.”

Luke nodded, then looked out the window. “It’s a little late. Want to stay the night?”

“That would be lovely, thank you.” Ben left, heading for the guest room.

Leia sent a burst of excitement to her brother. “We’ve never been so far from Tatooine before.”

“I know. We’re going to have to do a bit of maintenance before we lift off. I’m worried about the hyperdrive.”

She jabbed her twin in his side with her fingers. “It’ll be fine. Your repairs always hold.”

Luke, still a little bent over from her attack, sent out a counter attack. She blocked it. “They didn’t on the vaporator,” he pointed out, conceding the battle for now.

“That’s because that vaporator is old, ornery and likes to pretend it doesn’t understand basic.” Leia clapped the gold droid on the shoulder. “C 3P0 will talk it around.”

“I will?” The droid looked from Luke to Leia. “Splendid! I haven’t had a chance to have a good long chat with anyone in quite a while.”

“Kids! I’m shutting down for the night!”

“Coming Uncle Owen,” they called back to their uncle together.

The next morning, the twins and Ben parted ways. The old man insisted that he walk, that he wanted some time to himself to think. And so with the two droids happily fixing up the vaporators, Luke and Leia took the speeder to Mos Eisley.

The Millenium Falcon, so named by her previous owner, was too large to park at the farm, and parking it anywhere else would mean coming back to scraps. So they paid Reezel to look after it. The Rodian knew that Luke was too good of a mechanic to not notice if something went missing, and that Leia was too good of a shot to miss. So he left the Falcon alone in his lot and kept the sand people and Jawas away. They parked the speeder in the hold, then Luke went to go do his pre-flight checks and Leia started the engines. In ten minutes, they were away.

“The Jawas’ transport should be just ahead,” Luke said, pointing at a location on the monitor. “They usually hit up Anchorhead around this time.”

“I see them. And…” Leia leaned forward. Little white blobs were firing on the Jawa transport. “Luke.”

“On it.” Her twin took control of the Falcon.

Leia bolted out of her seat and dropped down into the gunner position. In just a few minutes, none of the white blobs were moving. They landed the Falcon a little ways away from the Jawa transport, then headed in to investigate.

When they got closer, Luke swore. “Stormtroopers. Damn.”

Leia nudged one with his foot. “Can’t be traced back to us. Come on, let’s go make sure the Jawas are alright.” She pulled her blaster, just in case anymore troopers were hanging around.

When they got to the transport, the Jawas surged out, chittering thanks at them. “Oh, well, you’re welcome.” They waited until the Jawas calmed down, then Luke asked, “Did you have any more droids?”

The lead Jawa made an inquiring noise.

“No, the ones you sold us are fine,” Leia said quickly. “So fine that we want to take them with us on the Falcon.”

Luke grinned and nodded, brighter than the twin suns. “Yeah, but we can’t leave Uncle Owen without any droids.”

All the Jawas present nodded as well. Then a bunch of them flooded back into their transport, pulling out two new droids. -MTD830 is a good translator droid,- said the lead Jawa. -Not as many languages as the one yesterday, but it knows Bocce and binary. And we fixed the motivator on the other R2 unit.-

“Oh, thank you. How much?” Leia reached for her belt pouch. Their last job had paid them quite well, and they would definitely be able to afford the droids.

-Nothing. As payment for saving us and our livelihood.-

Leia nodded, dropping her hands. To owe someone was unthinkable on Tatooine. “We accept your payment.”

Luke looked back at the troopers. “What about them?”

The lead Jawa looked over. They spat. -We will strip them of useful parts. Then the desert will take them.-

“Hm.” It was true enough. Already the wind was starting to blow sand over them. And stormtroopers had lots of useful gadgets in their armor, to say nothing of the blasters. They loaded the droids onto the Falcon, then prepared to say their goodbyes. “Take care of yourselves. Stay safe.”

-We will. We will leave this area for a while.- The Jawa looked left and right as the rest of their tribe picked over the corpses. -A bit of information. Free. The troopers were looking for the droids you purchased yesterday.-

Leia’s eyebrows flew up. Then she nodded. “We thank you for this. May the trade be in your favour.”

The Jawa turned, hopping into the transport just as it started to roll away.

When she got onto the ship, Luke was double checking the R2’s motivator. “Yep, Red here is all good to go. They did a good job fixing it up.”

“Glad to hear it. Come on, we’ve got to get back to the farm. The sooner we get Threepio and Artoo off of it, the better.” Quickly, she relayed the Jawa’s warning.

When they landed, Uncle Owen was waiting. “So. Threepio here tells me that you’re taking him to Alderaan.”

Leia winced. She’d wanted to break the news to him. “We are. But we brought you new help!” She gestured at the MTD and the other R2. “Luke says the motivator is fixed now. And MTD830 knows both Bocce and binary.”

“You know that’s not what I’m worried about.”

“We know.” Luke sighed. “We’ll be fine Uncle. You and Aunt Beru taught us how to protect ourselves and each other.”

“I did.” He pulled them into a tight hug. “You will call every night.”

“We will.”

“Good. Go say goodbye to your aunt. I’ll get these new droids set up.”

“Alright. Oh, and.” Leia put her head close to her uncle’s. “The Jawas told us troopers were looking for the two droids you bought yesterday.”

Owen blanched. “Right. Good thing they’re leaving then.” He looked the two new droids over. The MTD didn’t look a thing like C 3P0. In fact, it was floating on repulsors. And both of them looked like they’d been on Tatooine for years. “If anyone comes looking, we don’t have anything they’re looking for.”

She smiled. “Stay safe Uncle.”

“You too.”

Aunt Beru was hugging Luke when Leia caught up with him. When she saw Leia, Beru pulled Luke’s forehead down for a kiss, then pulled Leia into her arms. “You two stay safe. And try and get some water from Alderaan.”

Leia laughed. “We will. Don’t worry. We’ll call every night.”

“You’d better. Here, I packed some womp rat for you.”

“Mm.” Nice. In flight meals always tasted a little stale. “Thanks Aunt Beru.”

They got the speeder unloaded and the droids strapped in just as Ben returned. After a brief few minutes with Owen, he boarded.

Once they were out of atmo, Leia typed in the hyperspace coordinates and they set off.

Luke sat at the table, a warm cup of stim-tea in each hand. When Leia joined him, he passed the second one over. Ben slid in next to him, an oddly intent look on his face. “There is something I must tell you. About your father. Something your uncle and aunt didn’t want you to know, for fear that you would follow in his footsteps.”

“Wait, what?” Luke had always wanted to know more about his father. Forever asking his aunt and uncle questions about him. There was something they hadn’t told him? After all this time?

Ben nodded. He reached into his robe and pulled out a cylinder of metal. “He was not a navigator on a spice freighter. He was a Jedi, like I was.” Ben pressed a button on the cylinder and a bright blue bar of light burst from the tip with a hum.

“They… lied to us?” Luke couldn’t believe it. A spot of cold fire beside him shook him out of his stupor. Leia was drinking her stim-tea, calm as anything, but she was furious. As always, one of them had to be the rational one. “I mean, I can’t blame them, but-”

“You can’t blame them?!” Leia’s voice was far too loud for this enclosed space. “They lied to us Luke! For years!”

“And we did follow our father’s footsteps!” Luke yelled back, just as loud. Which was rare enough that Leia lost hold of her anger. Luke continued, quieter, “We thought he was a navigator. And here we are, in our own ship. If we’d known he was a Jedi, what would we have done?”

Leia grumbled, but answered, “We would have been gone when we first got the Falcon. Off to find adventure, or fight the Empire.”

With a smile, Luke leaned against his sister’s shoulder. “And now here we are.”

“I still think they should have told us.”

“I agree. And we can yell at them for it later.”

“True. Ben doesn’t really deserve that.” Leia took a deep breath. Then she held her hand out to Ben. “Can I see?”

Ben hit the switch again and the blade disappeared. He passed it over to Leia. “That’s your father’s lightsaber. He would have wanted you two to have it.”

Luke watched as Leia weighed it in her hand and hit the button to make the blade appear again. Then she closed it. “Luke should have it. I’m better with a blaster than I am with hand-to-hand.” She gave it to him.

It was weighty, but it was a comfortable weight. And it felt… right in his grip. Carefully angling it so the blade wouldn’t damage the walls, he pressed the button. The blue beam came out. “Wow.”

“I’m glad you know yourselves so well,” Ben said. “I would, however, prefer it if you both learned how to use it.”

Leia grimaced but nodded.

“And I thought ahead. It was difficult getting the materials for this, but I managed.” He pulled another cylinder out of his robes. “I made it myself,” he said proudly.

Taking it, Leia raised an eyebrow. She pressed the button and a yellow blade shot out. She shrugged. “Sure. Why not? We’ve got nothing to be doing for the next ten hours.”

It only took a minute to set up. One of the things Ben had taken from his hovel was a training orb, which would shoot bolts at whoever the target was. Non-lethal, and barely painful, with just enough kick to make it a lesson. They were told to block.

Sure enough, Luke was better with the lightsaber than Leia. He tried not to gloat.

Han tapped his foot on the ground. Waiting was the worst. But wait he did. Nothing else to do in this cell.

Then the door hissed open and he wished he could go back to waiting. A few security guards stomped in. That was fine, he could take a few guards. Then Vader stepped down the stairs and things weren’t fine.

Vader loomed for a moment, then said, “And now, Your Highness, we shall discuss the location of your hidden rebel base.” He looked over at the droid next to him and it started humming a discordant note that was painful to listen to.

Han winced. It would only get worse, he knew. He had to keep quiet. For Winter. For Mom and Pops. The note grew louder, and a syringe extended from the droid’s chassis.

He pushed his fear down and started focusing. On the first time he’d flown a speeder. He hadn’t had as much time as to fly since he’d gotten adopted, but he would never forget the feeling. He sank down into that day. On his then-guardian Shrike pointing out which buttons were which, as if Han didn’t know, couldn’t tell by looking.

The syringe came down and it felt like fire, but Han stayed in his speeder. Nothing about that day would betray his family.

When Vader pressed down on his mind, he stayed in his speeder. Beside him, Shrike started beating him. First with fists, then with the barrel of his blaster. Nothing he hadn’t experienced before. He kept to his course.

Kriff. He hoped that, if nothing else, he would die before he let anything slip.

It felt like days later when that presence withdrew from his mind. Exhausted, Han sat in his speeder. Shrike was gone. He curled up in the driver’s seat and fell asleep.

A stormtrooper pulled him out of his sleep roughly, marching him down the hallway before he had his eyes all the way open. He could feel the station moving under his feet and swore. If it was moving, it was operational. By the time he was placed in front of Moff Tarkin, he was fully awake, if not walking entirely under his own power. “Tarkin. I should have known. You leave a slime trail everywhere you go.”

Tarkin gave a small smile, but his eyes spelled murder. “Charming as always, Prince Han. I should thank you for that statement. It has eased my mind regarding the death warrant I signed for you.”

“Happy to help.” Han was starting to be able to feel his legs again. He stood a little straighter.

“Yes, well.” Tarkin circled around Han. “Perhaps you can be of further assistance. I would like you to be a guest at a ceremony that will make this battle station operational.” He flung out his hands dramatically, then dropped them to his side. “No star system will dare oppose the Emperor now.”

Han snorted. That seemed to convey everything he thought about that.

Tarkin glared at him, then continued as if Han hadn’t made a sound. “In a way, you have chosen our first target for us. The first demonstration of this station’s power. Since you are reluctant to tell us the location of the Rebel Base-”

“Oh sure, here, just get your datapads out. The Rebel Base is on Coruscant.”

Tarkin slapped Han, hard enough that he crashed to the floor. “It is treason to refer to that planet as anything but the Imperial Center.”

“Oh, well. My apologies then.” Han stood up shakily. Whatever drugs they’d given him were slow to wear off. “I’ll remember that for next time you ask me where the Rebel Base is.”

Han was privately delighted to see Tarkin’s hand flex in its glove. It was far too easy to needle the man. Tarkin turned his back, looking out the viewport. At Alderaan. “I have chosen to test this station’s power on your home planet. Alderaan.”

Han’s veins turned to ice. “No, you can’t! Alderaan is peaceful! We don’t even have the means to fight back!”

“You would prefer another target?” Tarkin whipped around. “A military target, perhaps?”

Almost two billion people. Mom. Pops. Winter. Han slumped. His eyes shut in defeat. “It’s on Agamar.” The planet didn’t support much life.

Tarkin’s smile returned. “There. You see, Lord Vader? He can be reasonable.” He turned to a tech. “Continue with the operation. You may fire when ready?”

Han’s eyes flew open. “What?! You slimy-”

“You’re far too trusting.” Tarkin’s smile didn’t waver. “Agamar is too remote to make an effective demonstration. But don’t worry, we will deal with your Rebel friends soon enough.”

There was activity in the technician’s pit, but Han couldn’t take his eyes off of Alderaan. At the blue seas and emerald forests. It had been a dream come true when Bail had opened the shuttle doors and said, “Welcome to your new home, Han.” A world where he could grow and explore without worry of someone hurting him. A home. A family.

Something crashed, and the station vibrated. Tarkin’s smile flew off in the face of his rage. “What was that?”

“A ship sir! It came out of hyperdrive and crashed into the focusing dish! We can't fire!” The tech looked terrified. “We can fix it easily enough. But it’ll be a few days.”

“You have one.” Tarkin gestured at Vader. “Bring Prince Han back to his cell. He can stew over the demise of his home world there.” As the door closed behind him, Han heard, “And bring me that ship!”

Han didn’t fight as they dragged him away. Couldn’t, not with Vader half a step behind him. All he could do was wait and hope.

“Leia, what the hell?”

“I don’t know! There wasn’t supposed to be anything here!”

The drop out of hyperspace had been stressful, to say the least. The moon-thing had just appeared in front of her, too close to avoid properly. As it was, a decent chunk of the port side of the ship was embedded in the moon’s smooth surface.

Alarms were wailing at her, but thankfully, none of her systems were damaged beyond what she could handle. The Falcon corrected itself, skimming along the surface of the ship and far too close for comfort. Nothing Leia couldn’t deal with. Everything was fine. They’d fix up the ship when they got to Alderaan. 

And then the moon spat out a few TIE fighters. Which was something Leia couldn’t handle. “Luke, we’ve got company!”

Her twin’s familiar footsteps crashed down into the gunner position. Oddly, she could hear Ben’s going into the other position. Well, she wouldn’t argue. “Hold onto your hats boys, this ride’s gonna get rough!”

She tried to peel away from the surface but the TIEs fired above her, forcing her close. “Ok, either they want to crash us, or they’re herding us somewhere. Can you two give me some space?”

“ _I can if you get into a better position_ ,” Luke said, his voice crackling through the comms.

“Done and done little brother.” She slammed the forward repulsors, sending the Falcon into a spin, then put all power to the back. It was the worst way to turn around, the G force pressing her into her seat, but it was effective. Two TIEs went down in little balls of flame.

“ _I’m older,_ ” Luke retorted as he blasted another TIE out of the sky.

Leia maneuvered around an outcropping. “In your dreams.”

“ _As lovely as this is to listen to_ ,” Ben broke in, “ _We have more company._ ”

She swore. Alright. Time to get fancy. She was very glad this moon didn’t have any atmo. That would make this a lot harder. She input some hyperdrive calculations, manually. It would take far too long for the computer to calculate them. They weren’t going far, just the next system over. Just far enough to get her bearings.

And then, just as Leia was about to execute, the ship came to a sudden, painful halt. Leia felt a rib crack as the harness prevented her from flying into the viewport. For a second, there was nothing. Then Leia felt it. A humming over her skin. She’d never felt this personally, but a fellow smuggler had described it to her once. Tractor beam. She swore. Then she released her harness.

Luke was already climbing out of the gunner pit. The thought raced between them so fast, it was difficult to say who thought it first. “Smuggling compartments,” Luke said. “I’ll get Ben, you find the droids.”

The compartments were, like any good smuggling compartment, impervious to most forms of scan. Deep scanners would be able to detect a void where there should be machinery, but those were heavy and didn’t have a good range. It should buy them some time at least.

It took all three of them to carefully lower C 3P0 and R2 into the compartment and seal the lid over them. The second compartment was a little tight for three humans, but manageable. They stayed crouched while the Falcon was forcibly landed, boots rattled over them, and orders were shouted. After what felt like an eternity, the noises stopped, and Luke carefully lifted the hatch. “It’s clear.”

The three of them slipped out. Then, Luke and Leia set their blasters to stun and waited for someone to board. Luckily, it was the techs with the deep scanner. They were unconscious within seconds of entering the ship, and the twins caught one each with the Force. Carefully, they peeked down the ramp. Two stormtroopers. Good.

“Hey,” Luke called, deepening his voice a little, “Give us a hand in here.”

In less than a minute, the troopers had met the techs’ fate, and Luke and Leia were dressed in their armor. Leia shoved her hair into her helmet. “Ugh, this is tight. It’s going to give me a headache, I just know it.” Not as bad as the chest plate though. That was uncomfortably tight, and with her cracked rib, it was making breathing difficult.

“You want me to…” Luke trailed off, but held up the lightsaber questioningly.

“You’re not cutting off my hair with that thing,” Leia said, affronted. “You’ll make my ship smell like burning hair for weeks.”

“Our ship.”

“I won it. I just choose to share it with you.”

“Ah, I see, like how I chose to share the blame with you, dear little sister, when you crashed Uncle Owen’s speeder.”

“First of all, I’m older. Secondly, I was eight at the time, and you were distracting me.”

“Now is not the time for this, children.” Ben hovered Luke’s helmet at him until Luke put it on. “We have to find a way to shut off the tractor beam, without getting caught.”

Leia looked out of one of the view ports. “Looks like a command center up there. Luke, can you get up there without being seen? I’ll give you a minute, then set up a distraction. Take everyone out and we can get the info we need.”

“As long as you don’t blow anything up, yeah. Should be a piece of cake.”

And it was. After a minute, the command center tried to contact Leia. Or, the stormtrooper whose armor Leia was wearing. Instead of answering, she tapped her fingers over her ear and then shrugged. After a moment, Luke sent an all clear to her and she made her way up the stairs, Ben and the droids following.

In a matter of minutes, R2 had found the location of the tractor beam controls. Another minute later, after Ben had disappeared to deal with that, R2 found the prince.

The twins didn’t say anything. They just put their helmets on and headed out.

No one looked twice at them as they traversed the space station. Still, Luke couldn’t help but tap his finger on the barrel of his blaster. This whole place… the way it felt made him antsy. Like it was wrong. On the lift to the prison sector, Leia’s elbow bumped into Luke’s. That helped.

Detention block AA-23 was guarded by three Imperials in the main room, and one down the hall. The officer turned to them, already suspicious, when they got off the lift. “Can I help you?”

“Prisoner transfer,” Luke said. “The general wants to see the prince right away.”

“I wasn’t notified. I’ll have to clear it.” The officer turned to one of the soldiers behind him.

Leia’s rifle came down and shot the soldier down the hall, then one of the ones in the room. Luke took out the third soldier. They both shot the officer, before he could react. In a moment, the room was quiet.

Quickly, Leia started shooting out all the cameras while Luke went to the computer. “I’ve got him. Cell 2187. Go Leia!” An alarm beeped at him. “Hello?”

“ _Visuals in your section are down. What happened?_ ”

“A, uh, slight electrical malfunction on our end. We’re trying to get them back up now. Give us two minutes?”

“ _Fine. But then we’re sending a team up to check on you_.”

“Sounds great, you have a nice day.” He cut the connection. “Two minutes Leia!” He could feel his twin’s relief as the sound of a door opening filtered down the hallway, followed by a thought that was unmistakably, _Oh no, he’s hot_. He giggled and sent her an inquiry.

A half second later, she sent him back what she could see. Prince Han was tall, very tall, and dressed in a white shirt and pants so wide they looked like a skirt. His hair was long, and coiled into two buns on either side of his head. And the image confirmed what Luke had known from the holo. He echoed his sister. _Oh no, he’s hot_. Leia had to stifle her own giggle, and Luke grinned.

Then he stretched. The whole interaction had taken less than five seconds. Time to see how much mischief he could get up to in two minutes.

Han heard the commotion, but there had been a lot of bustle in the station since the dish had been damaged. And when the door opened to reveal a stormtrooper, he wasn’t really surprised.

Well, he was a little surprised. “You’re the shortest stormtrooper I’ve ever seen.” Wasn’t there a height restriction?

There was a sound that sounded like a snort, digitized beyond recognition through the helmet’s speakers. Then the trooper pulled the helmet off, revealing a young, beautiful, female face, and a braid so messy that it was physically hurting Han to look at it. “My name’s Leia Whitesun. I found your droids, and I’m here to rescue you.”

Everything in Han lit up at the words. He staggered to his feet, relief guiding his steps. “Good. But first we need to get Chewie. I’m not leaving him behind.”

“Who?”

“Chewbacca. A Wookie.”

Leia nodded, and stuck her head out the door. “Hey Luke, is there a Wookie named Chewbacca in this sector?”

After a minute, someone answered, “2194! But hurry, we’ve only got a minute!”

Han was already moving, Leia hot on his heels. He pushed the door release button for 2194 and grinned at his truest friend. He gave Chewie a quick up and down, looking for injuries, and it ended up being very quick because as soon as Chewie saw him he had his face pressed against a chestful of brown fur, warm strong arms circling him. “I’m fine Chewie.”

<No, you’re not,> Chewie argued. <I heard your screams from my cell Han.>

“Well alright then, but I’m less not fine than I was then.”

“We have to go,” Leia said, twisting her terrible braid and shoving it into her helmet. Han shuddered. “Now.”

Chewie roared at her, pushing Han behind him and taking a step forward. Han grabbed Chewie’s arm to stop him. “No, she’s rescuing us. She’s alright.”

“Thirty seconds,” called the voice from down the hallway. The three of them shared a brief look and then ran for it. “Although we may have more time now.” The stormtrooper at the console input a few more commands and hit execute. Immediately, alarms went off.

“Luke, what did you do?”

“Shut down the power in a few sectors.” The stormtrooper, Luke apparently, picked up his blaster and headed for the door. “None near here, but we’re going to want to move quickly.”

“Wait,” Han said, grabbing two sets of binders from a drawer. “Here Chewie, we’ll look less conspicuous if we put these on.”

“Not all the way,” Leia said, “in case you need to get them off in a hurry.”

“Don’t worry,” Luke added in, opening the door, “they won’t fall off.” Well that wasn’t vague or anything.

They were stopped once, by an officer running hurriedly in the opposite direction. Luke stood to a sloppy attention and said, “Yes sir. We caught these prisoners escaping from one of the dark sectors. We’re taking them to a more secure location.” Something about the way he said it made it seem way more convincing than it should have.

Luckily, the officer seemed to accept this. He waved them along.

“Now we just have to hope that Ben got the tractor beam situation sorted out.” Leia whispered, far too quietly for Luke to have heard her. But Luke nodded anyways.

“Seriously?” Han asked when he finally saw the piece of junk they were leading him to. “This belongs in a scrap heap.”

Luke pulled Chewie up the ramp. “Blame Leia. She’s the one who crashed us into the station.”

“My calculations were perfect Luke. It’s hardly my fault this was where it shouldn’t have been.”

“Wait.” Han froze. If anyone walked by, they’d be able to see him at the top of the ramp. He didn’t care. “You’re the one who damaged the focusing dish?”

Leia pulled off her helmet and dragged Han a little further into the ship. “Yes. And if I weren’t so good a pilot, we would have lost our lives instead of just the port plati-”

Han caught her up in a massive hug, cutting off whatever she was saying. His binders fell to the floor with a clatter. “Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You saved Alderaan.”

“Oh. Um.” Her hand patted him on the shoulder once or twice. “You’re welcome. Oh hey look, it’s your droids.”

Han let go, although he kept a hand on her shoulder. “Threepio! Artoo! It’s good to see you made it!”

“And you Prince Han!” Threepio waved his arms in joy. “But I do recommend Master Luke and Mistress Leia take up their posts. There’s a patrol on the way.”

“Oh, right. Follow me.” Luke headed into the hallway and lifted a floor hatch. “Everyone in. We’ll take off when Ben gets back.”

Chewie helped the droids into their compartment, then hopped into the one with Han. Han ran a hand over the walls. They had the same texture as the walls of his cell. Impervious to all kinds of scanner. There was only one kind of ship, to Han’s knowledge, which used this kind of compartment. And the hatches had been nearly invisible until Luke had pulled them open. “Smugglers compartments?” He leaned against Chewie’s side. “Just what kind of folks have pulled our fat out of the fire this time Chewie?”

<Whoever they are, they’re better than the Empire.> Chewie started running his paws over Han’s arms. <Are you sure you’re ok?>

“Yeah. Well, physically.” He shifted, and felt the last lingering numb pain of the drugs. “Mostly.” He chuckled softly to himself. “The Empire doesn’t like to leave any visible signs of torture on their political prisoners.”

Chewie wrapped Han in another hug and honestly, it was the best medicine Han could have for the damage Vader had done to his mind. They stayed there until pounding footsteps rattled over their compartments and a lurch signalled that the ship was taking off. Carefully, Chewie lifted the hatch.

“Luke!” Leia called from what looked like the cockpit.

“Leia!” Luke called back, climbing a ladder.

“You shot Darth Vader, Luke!” The ship shuddered.

“I shot _at_ Darth Vader, Leia!” The sounds of laser fire filled the air.

“You did what?” Han shouted from the hatch.

Instead of answering, Leia shouted, “Hey, royal nerf herder! If you’re any good with a gun I need you in the lower gunner pit, now!”

“Oh, sorry for breathing then!” Han stalked over to the ladder and climbed down. The artificial gravity shift tied knots in his stomach, but he managed to hold together. After a few seconds, the console booted up. Han pulled on a headset and grabbed the controls.

The ship rattled. “Luke! We just lost lateral controls!”

“She’ll hold together Leia!” Luke sounded way too confident about that. “You know she will!”

Another voice, one Han didn’t recognize, called from somewhere, “There was a small fire here, but Artoo put it out.”

“Thanks Ben! Thanks Artoo!”

“Kid, we are in a firefight! How do you sound so chipper?” Han took a shot at a TIE and suppressed a shout of joy.

“Ah, we’ll be fine. This is hardly the worst one I’ve been in.”

Ok, what kind of people had Han gotten himself involved in?

“We’re clear ahead, so I’m going into hyperspace. Buckle up everyone!”

The kind who thought it was a good idea to hyperspace in the middle of a firefight apparently. Han shot one more TIE who was getting a little cozy then held onto his socks as the ship lurched. When it settled into the familiar, smooth travel of hyperspace, Han pulled off his headset and climbed up the ladder.

There was an old man sitting with Chewie at the table. Han nodded to Chewie, but first he wanted to meet Luke. In a moment, the kid climbed down out of his own gunner pit.

‘Kid’ was right. He looked about the same age as Leia and neither of them looked like they’d hit twenty. But where Leia had dark hair and eyes, Luke was blond with blue eyes. He gave Han a grin that could only be described as ‘sunny’. “Heya. I’m Luke Skywalker. Pleasure to meet you.”

“Han Organa Solo. Same.” He shook the kid’s proffered hand. “Did you really shoot Vader?” He really didn’t look the type.

“I shot _at_ Vader. None of my shots connected.” And he looked _disappointed_ at that. As if the kid didn’t have more guts than a Corellian sausage. “Anyways, sorry, I’ve gotta go check the engines. I’m worried about a few of those hits we took.” Luke gave him a wave and jumped down into the maintenance pit.

“I was fighting a duel with Darth Vader,” said the old man conversationally. He was far too calm, considering what he’d just said. “He intervened.”

Han slid in next to Chewie, just needing his friend’s presence for a second. Chewie obligingly put his hand on Han’s head, claws scratching gently at his skull. Which felt amazing. “Well I’m glad to hear it. You must be Ben?”

The old man smiled at them. “The younglings call me Ben. But you would know me as Obi Wan Kenobi. I got your message.”

“Oh. Good. I’m Han, this is Chewie.” Han dropped his head into his arms and rested them on the table. “Thank you for coming. And for saving Alderaan.”

“Did we?” The man looked surprised.

“Yeah. When you crashed into the focusing dish.” Han sighed. Then he sat back up. Rest over. “We’ve got to get these plans to the Rebellion right away. Thanks Chewie. I have to go talk to the pilot.”

Leia was finalizing their flight calculations in the cockpit. The stream of stars racing past them faster than light was very soothing. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Han said. He draped himself over the back of the copilot chair. The ship looked somehow worse in the cockpit. It was clean, but hardly any of the panels matched, and there were a few buttons missing their covers. But it was flying and it was in hyperspace, so that was something. “Can you go to these coordinates?” He listed them off.

After a second, Leia nodded. “Sure. But in a bit. The Empire is probably tracking our vector. Better to get a bit further away before we change course.”

Made sense. “So you’re the pilot?”

Leia looked at him sharply. “Got a problem with that?”

“Not at all,” Han said, holding up his hands in surrender. "Sorry. Do you get that a lot?"

She grunted. "More than you'd think. I could name a dozen female smugglers who can out fly any male, but there's still a bunch out there who think men do it better."

Han winced sympathetically. "I sort of know the feeling. A lot of politicians think that there isn't a single gutter rat out there with any sort of intelligence. I get ignored in the Senate a lot."

Leia patted his arm gently. They sat in silence for a few minutes, just watching the hyperspace go by. Then Leia asked, "If you didn't ask because you didn't think I was a good pilot, then why did you ask?"

“Oh. It’s just that the kid doesn’t seem like the gunner type.”

“Got that right. That’s cause I’m better at it than him.” She leaned back in her chair. “But I’m also better at calculating hyperdrive vectors. And flying this baby.” She gave the console a fond pat. “But get Luke in a smaller ship and he can fly it through the eye of a needle.” Abruptly, the fond smile vanished and Leia sat bolt upright. “Luke, what did you say?”

“I didn’t hear anything.” Han followed Leia out of the cockpit and towards the maintenance pit.

“Tracker!” Luke said, slamming the bit of tech onto the floor above him. “And if there’s one, there’s probably another one on the outside.” He hoisted himself up, grabbing his laser torch. “Shouldn’t be too difficult to disable though, once we find it.”

“Wait. Not yet.” Han surprised even himself. “Leia, can you drop us into real space? I need to make a call.”

Luke carefully extracted himself from the wires, climbing over a fuel pipe to get out. Which was a lot easier without the trooper armor weighing him down. With another Force assisted jump, he pulled himself from the maintenance pit. “That’s as good as I can get it without access to the outside. But we are going to want to land soon. I don’t like the look of that stabilizer.” He squeezed in next to his sister. On the other side of the table, Chewie was napping.

“Soon as His Highness gets off the phone, we’ll head out.” Leia drummed her fingers on the table. Luke could feel her anxiety coming off of her in waves.

He sent back a touch of calm. _We’ll be alright. We always are._

She smiled at him. _I know._ And then, _I love you._

_I love you too. Little sister._

“I’m older.”

“I’m taller. That makes me older.”

The argument, as familiar as their own names, did more to calm Leia than anything. It had been going since the twins were four and asked. When both Owen and Beru had admitted ignorance, it had been on.

“Well,” said Han, exiting the cockpit and cutting off whatever scathing reply Leia had been about to make, “Rebellion command agrees with me. Better to lure the Death Star to the base than let it try for Alderaan again.”

Leia frowned. She pushed Luke off the bench and went to the cockpit to put the coordinates in. Luke and Han followed. “Will they go for it though? They’re at Alderaan anyways.” Taking the pilot’s chair, she started typing.

“I’m hoping so. Yavin IV is both a high profile target and the location of their biggest enemies. It’ll look better than blowing up a peaceful planet whose only crime is having a street kid for a prince.” Han flopped into the chair behind Leia.

Leia shrugged and hit a button on the console. The ship lurched into hyperspace. “We’re headed for Yavin IV then.”

“Are we? Excellent. A lovely forest moon.” Ben settled in the last chair.

“You’ve been, Ben?” Luke turned in his chair a bit. He’d never seen a forest before. All the planets around Tatooine were either deserts, covered in industry, or so polluted that nothing could grow.

“Oh, no. But I’ve seen holos.” Ben cleared his throat. “Did I hear you talking about how to lure the Death Star to Yavin?”

Han nodded. “We have about twenty hours until they fix the focusing dish and go after Alderaan again. If we can lure them to Yavin, and use what’s on Artoo’s memory banks against them, well. Even if there isn’t anything useful, it’s easier to evacuate ten thousand from the base than two billion from Alderaan.”

“I see.” Ben stroked his beard. “Then it might be useful to finally come out of hiding. I knew Vader, once, and I know there’s nothing he’d like better than to see me dead.”

Leia turned around sharply. “How many things are you hiding from us, old man?”

“Well, there are a great many things Owen and Beru wouldn’t allow me to tell you. And now that I’ve gotten permission, I haven’t had much of a chance.”

Leia glared at him. “Alright. But the whole story comes out once Alderaan is safe. Got it?”

“Of course.” Ben smiled. “And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to meditate.”

“Yeah, I was gonna say…” Luke trailed off. Ben had been… disheveled in the Force since they’d gotten off the Death Star. Ben just flapped a hand at him and headed to the crew quarters. Luke pulled his feet up onto the chair, and started getting ready to do his own meditation.

Beside him Leia stretched. “We’ll be there in about an hour. Han, if you or Chewie want to freshen up, the quarters are just to the left of the kitchen.”

Han was still staring at Leia’s braid, but he nodded and stood up. Luke looked at it, but couldn’t see anything wrong. It looked the same as always, a simple braid going down her back to the bottom of her shoulder blades.

Luke shrugged. Either it would be important or it wouldn’t. He sank into a deep meditation. Beside him, he could feel Leia do the same. He had to close his eyes to meditate, had to cut out all distractions. Leia meditated best in hyperspace, with the stars through the viewport sending her into a trance.

Together, they sorted themselves out.

Han uncoiled his buns with a sigh of relief. It wasn’t the most painful hairstyle he had, but it was much more prone to unravelling than his usual braids. Chewie handed him a brush, having already finished with it. Chewie, as always, had cleaned it out as well, which Han always appreciated. “Thanks Chewie.” He ran the bristles through his hair with relief. It was like a massage for his scalp and it was _wonderful_. 

<So what’s with those two, do you think?>

“Huh? How do you mean?”

<Just… something feels off about them. While we were waiting for you to finish your call it was almost like…> Chewie trailed off, letting his thought roll in his brain a bit more. Han waited. <Almost like half of their conversation was completely silent.>

“Hm.” He started twining strands of hair together. “Now that you mention it, yeah. When Luke found the tracker, Leia responded to him, but I didn’t hear anything.”

<Me neither.>

“Is it a Force thing, do you think?” Han didn’t necessarily believe that the Force existed. Pops had told him it had, but Pops had also told Winter that the Hair Pixie would steal hair from anyone who didn’t brush it every day. But also, he wasn’t sure what else it could be.

Chewie’s face scrunched up. He didn’t like talking about the war much. <The Jedi I knew never did that. I’m pretty sure Yoda could read minds though.>

“So maybe they’re doing that?”

<Well, not minds. More like, intentions. Feelings.> Chewie huffed. <Also, Yoda was nine hundred years old. These kids don’t look older than twenty.>

“Yeah, they’re really young.” Han carefully tucked the loose end of his braid in and surveyed his work. A coronal braid. Simple, comfortable, and it would last through any firefight.

<You’re really young,> Chewie retorted.

“Aw, shut up. I’m older than they are.” Probably. Maybe they were older than him and just had baby faces. “Want me to do your hair?” 

Chewie shook his head. <Not enough time. Thanks though.>

“No problem.”

<So,> said Chewie slowly, slyly, <you like them, don't you?>

“Yeah, they seem like nice kids.”

<No, I mean,> Chewie leaned against the wall and raised an eyebrow, a gesture he'd picked up from years of travelling with Han. <You think they're hot.>

Han took a second to parse the words, and then his face caught fire. “I do not!” 

<You do!> Chewie crowed, <You think they're hot and you like them!>

“Shut up Chewie!” Kriff, he could feel the blush travelling down his chest.

<They don't look too bad, even without any fur,> Chewie said thoughtfully.

Han pressed his hands over his ears. “I don't have to listen to this.”

Chewie just laughed, a rumbling laugh that Han hated at the moment.

He dropped his hands and sighed. “You've seen how well they work together. Do you think they're, you know, together?”

<Maybe,> Chewie said, more sympathetically, <maybe not. But I don't see why that should stop you. Maybe you can be with them both.>

As it turned out, Han was capable of blushing harder. “I am going to turn you into a rug. See if I don't.”

Once Han had calmed down, and he was sure Chewie wouldn't bring up how hot his rescuers were, they went back to the table and sat down. Han leaned up against Chewie and shut his eyes. Not enough time for a nap, but it was better than nothing. He hadn’t really slept in… two days? Going on three. Being unconscious wasn’t as restful as it seemed.

And for a few minutes, the ship was quiet.

The quiet only lasted until they landed on Yavin. The meditation helped, but the twins hadn’t slept over twenty four hours, and they were starting to feel it. And being surrounded by people shouting questions at them and their cargo wasn’t helping. At all.

Han was quickly pulled aside by a commander, with Artoo following closely behind him. Ben sat down to meditate and subtly broadcast his location into the Force. And after a few minutes of not answering any questions, people cleared away and left Luke and Leia in peace.

Luke immediately went to the port side of the Falcon. He hissed through his teeth at the sight of it. Leia commisserated. “That doesn’t look good, little brother. Are you sure we’ll be able to fix it in time?”

“I’m older.” Luke reached up a hand and ran it over the scrape. They weren’t sure yet, whether they wanted to stay for the fighting. Luke was eager. Leia had reservations. But either way, they needed to get this done before the Death Star showed up. “And we won’t get anything done just talking about it. Let’s go find a lift.”

Fixing the Falcon was easier with the Force. He could reach out, draw it along the wires and parts and find things that were broken. Of course, knowing what needed to be replaced and what could wait was still on him. But this was what he was good at.

Leia kept him company, handing him parts and tools and arguing with him about his choices. “Are you stupid? The F640 won’t last! You need to use the 680!”

“The 680 may last longer, but it doesn’t fit.”

“So you pull off the connection and put the 640 connector on it.” 

“If I do that, then there’s a good chance everything will leak before we even get up to speed.”

“That’s what sealant is for, bantha brain.”

And so on.

It took the better part of eight hours, but eventually all the damage got fixed. Luke took a special pleasure welding new plates over the damage. A piece of the focusing dish had gotten caught and had come with them to Yavin. He welded it right on top.

Just as they’d finished, a pilot ran up to them. “So it’s true! It is you two. What are you troublemakers doing here?”

Luke looked down, squinted past his exhaustion at the pilot, and then his face split into a grin. “Biggs!” He vaulted over the side of the lift and caught the man up in a hug. “What are you doing here? I thought you joined the Imperial Academy!”

“Ah, long story Luke. Short version is I defected to the Alliance.” Biggs wrapped Luke up in a big hug, then turned to Leia. “You’re a vision as always Leia!”

She waved at him, but didn’t climb down from the lift. “Hi Biggs. Glad to see the Empire didn’t cut down on your ego any.”

“Oh never, my ego is made of solid durasteel.” Biggs grinned at Luke. “I’ve got more than a few stories to tell you Luke, but first thing’s first. That prince guy, from Alderaan?”

“Han? What about him?”

“On a first name basis with royalty, unbelievable.” Biggs rolled his eyes. “Anyways, he’s requested that you be at the meeting. The number crunchers have decoded the Death Star plans.”

The twins looked at each other and shrugged. They put away their tools and the lift and followed Biggs, happily catching up on each others’ lives.

When they got there, Luke suddenly felt self conscious. They were covered in engine grease and oil, and everyone else in the room was presentable. Aunt Beru had always stressed the importance of being presentable.

But Leia walked in with her head held high – or as high as it could go – like she was daring anyone to say anything. They were here upon request. Someone wanted them here. Someone important.

Not only that, but they were free. There was no one above them.

Then she kicked him in the shin because he hadn’t kept that dig at her height to himself.

The meeting was boring, but informative. The Death Star had a weakness, a big one, but not one that was easy to exploit.

But also not one that seemed impossible, like everyone else was shouting. “No, it’s doable.”

Wait. Had he said that out loud?

Had he said that _loudly_? 

Everyone was looking at him.

He cleared his throat. “The space you need to hit is about the same area that hitting womp rats is. Two meters? Me and Leia bullseye them all the time at home, and womp rats move.”

“Maybe,” said the man running the meeting. Luke hadn’t caught his name. “But I’m sure womp rats don’t shoot back. Still, it’s good to see we have some marksmen in the group.”

The meeting continued. Luke turned his biggest, pleading-est eyes on his sister. She ignored him. For a solid minute. Luke pressed against her shields, the Force equivalent of leaning his full weight against her. Then she huffed. Luke grinned. He was going to get to fly.

“We have confirmation that the Death Star has entered the system,” a tech cried out, bursting through a side door.

The man looked at him, then nodded. “May the Force be with you all. Dismissed.”

To his delight, once he’d gotten cleaned up and dressed in a pilot’s uniform, he saw that Artoo was going to be his astromech. He’d gotten attached to the little guy, and it was always better to fly with a friend. He and Biggs exchanged goodbyes, and then Luke pulled on his helmet and climbed into the cockpit.

 _Last chance to get into one of these Leia_ , Luke called out.

 _You couldn’t pay me to get into one of those death traps_.

 _Ouch! You wound me_. And quite hypocritical from the woman who willingly flies the Falcon. He loved that ship, but he would know better than anyone that it was held together with spit and prayers.

She gave him the impression of rolling her eyes.

Luke laughed and started preparing for take off.

Leia had one goal for today. She wanted to keep Luke safe.

Of course, the best way to keep Luke safe was to keep the enemy forces away from his squadron. Which meant keeping them all safe.

Her life had gotten a lot more complicated recently.

And it got even more complicated when His Royal Hanness climbed aboard her ship, Chewbacca following. “I like your patch job.”

“Thanks.” She coiled up a cable, storing it back in its compartment. “What are you doing here?”

Han smiled at her. “Thought you could use a gunner. I’m less than useless in the war room, so I thought I’d volunteer.”

“I guess you weren’t useless on the Death Star.” She grinned at him crookedly. “Alright. You two get yourselves strapped in. Take off’s in five.”

Leia had asked for, and received, a small complement of photon torpedoes. She probably wouldn’t be able to use them – no way was the Falcon fitting in that trench – but it was better to be safe than sorry. Plus the torpedoes could be useful in other places. Like the recently replaced focusing dish.

Kriff, she was tired. As she sat down in her chair, she pulled on the Force. It was a trick she and Luke had learned when they were younger. They’d gotten stranded, halfway between Anchorhead and home and had had to walk. The hour speeder trip was more than twelve hours walking, and it hadn’t been safe enough to stop. So they’d done this. It wasn’t the same as real sleep, and she would crash pretty hard later, but it would keep her awake and alert, and that’s all she needed right now.

Distantly, she felt Luke do the same.

The bay doors opened and the X- and Y-wings flew out. Once they were all out, Leia followed.

“ _Fifteen minutes until Death Star is in firing range._ ” The voice rattled through her comm, which a tech had kindly programmed to the Alliance frequency. She hadn’t even had to yell at him much.

Still, not a lot of time. And regardless of what Luke said, this wasn’t going to be easy. Still, that’s why she was there. To watch his back. Like always. “How are you two doing down there?”

“ _Just cozy._ ”

Chewie rumbled something as well. Leia made a mental note to get Threepio to teach her Shyriiwook when they landed.

“Alright. Keep an eye out. We’re leaving atmo now.”

The pilots started roll call. Leia waited until they were done, then sent out her own call sign. “Falcon, standing by.” Barely a call sign, but it was the one the Alliance had told her to use.

Once everyone was accounted for, the X-wings went into attack position, and they flew in for the attack. The Falcon jumped a bit as the Death Star’s magnetic field hit, but nothing she couldn’t compensate for. “Focus on the mounted turrets boys,” Leia called down to her gunners, “we need to keep our people safe.”

“ _You got it_!”

Another Wookie rumble. Leia memorized the sound of it, then flew in for the attack.

Her forward guns were stationary, which limited her attack capabilities somewhat, but that wouldn’t stop her. Besides, that’s what she had Han and Chewie for. 

She swooped in and out, never straying too far from Luke, and taking out as many turrets as she could along the trench. Not enough. Red Six vanished in a ball of fire.

And then the TIE fighters came.

One got on Biggs’ tail, and Leia quickly blasted it off. Three tried to chase her down, but Han and Chewie took care of them before they could get more than a few shots off. She continued on that pattern, taking pot shots at the turrets and shooting anything that got close to Luke. In turn, Luke kept the fighters off of everyone else.

And then Gold Squadron started the trench run.

Leia tracked their progress from above, firing as much as she could at the towers. And something cold entered the fray.

Before she could fire at the presence, one of the Y-wings was shot down. With a yell, she put all power to forward repulsors, then the rear ones again, getting behind the trio of TIEs that had entered the trench.

“ _Whoa there, are you trying to give us whiplash_?”

“Just focus on those three TIEs. They’re giving me a bad feeling.”

“ _Whatever you say boss._ ”

These TIEs were good. But while they were busy evading, they couldn’t be focused on aiming. While they were busy with her, Gold Leader dropped a photon torpedo.

And missed.

Leia cursed, but swung around. If she could get rid of a few more of these turrets, they’d be able to focus on just defending from the TIEs. She dropped a photon torpedo on the trench tower, watching with a flat smile as it exploded.

She could feel Ben talking to Luke through the Force, but didn't pay attention to what he was saying.

Another run. Another game of trying to hit those TIEs and failing. Another miss. And then, “ _Red Five, going in_.”

Ok TIEs. Now it was personal. She was going to save her baby brother and no cold, crushing presence in the Force was going to stop her. “You’re going to get away from my brother,” she said, both out loud, and to the cold presence through the Force, “or I swear, I will blow you to smithereens.” The TIE in front of her wavered, shocked at the direct communication. 

“ _Wait, brother_?”

She took a deep breath and immersed herself in the Force.

This was dangerous. It sharpened her focus, allowed her to pay attention to four things at once, but it left her vulnerable. If she wasn’t careful, that presence would take advantage of her.

But that’s why she had a brother.

Before the presence could attack, Luke’s Force presence covered her own, creating a shield between her and the coldness. She grinned. Like this, she was able to shoot down two of the TIEs chasing Luke. The last one continued to evade her, but as long as she was keeping it busy, it couldn’t fire.

Luke pulled his focus away from her so he could concentrate on the torpedo. Leia’s own photon torpedo exploded under the last TIE, sending it careening out of the trench. Luke fired and-

“ _It’s a hit_!”

Leia cheered, the sentiment echoing on all frequencies.

She heard Han laugh from the gunner pit. “ _Great shot kid_!”

“Let’s get out of here.” She pulled away from the Death Star, getting out of range just in time for the explosion.

When they got back, they staggered into their briefing. Leia finally got her cracked rib looked at. And then she and Luke, too tired to argue about it, both curled up in the top bunk. And they fell asleep.

“Kriff.”

Luke looked up from his flight suit. He was tidying up his room a bit, folding clothes and putting things away. The outfit Han had loaned him was sitting on the bed still. The medal ceremony was in an hour, but he was worried that if he put it on now he’d mess it up. His twin had frozen, part way through rebraiding her hair. “What?”

“We forgot to call.”

Luke felt the blood drain out of his face. “Kriff.”

They raced to the cockpit. Leia got to the controls first, dialing in the frequency for the farm on Tatooine. Aunt Beru picked up immediately. “ _You said you would call! It’s been three days Leia_!”

Luke winced. “We know. We’re sorry Aunt Beru.”

“ _Your uncle and I have been worried sick! Owen! Owen, come quick, it’s the kids_!”

Distantly, Luke heard Uncle Owen shout, “ _It’s about time_ !” There was the sound of feet on stairs, then Owen’s dusty face showed up in the holo. “ _Do you know how worried we were? It’s been three days! You were supposed to call every night_.”

“We know Uncle Owen.”

“We’re sorry.” 

Owen glared at them for a solid minute, then sighed. “ _But you’re both ok_?”

Leia nodded. “Right as rain. We just got a little caught up…”

“Saving the galaxy,” Luke finished. Leia would have considered it bragging, but he felt like he’d earned a bit of bragging.

“ _Oh my_ .” Aunt Beru covered her mouth with her hand. “ _And you’re sure you’re alright_?”

“Perfectly fine.” Luke even stood back a bit, holding out his arms and doing a spin, so his aunt and uncle could see how fine he was. “We have a ceremony in about an hour that we have to go to, so we can’t talk long, but we’ll call immediately after.”

Footsteps on the ramp. Leia turned to look at the entrance sharply, then relaxed when she heard Han’s voice. “Leia, I need a word!”

“In here Han!”

“A friend of ours,” Luke explained. “We saved his life.”

“ _Oh, that’s lovely to hear_.” Beru smiled, focusing on the ‘friend’ bit and completely ignoring the ‘saving his life’ bit.

Han stalked into the cockpit wielding a brush, several combs, and a spray bottle. “Leia, I can’t stay silent any more. Your hair is atrocious. Please let me fix it.”

“What’s wrong with my hair?” Leia pulled her braid over her shoulder. Luke looked it over. It seemed fine? She's just braided it. So it was fine for another few days, right?

“I hate that you asked me that. I hate that you can’t just… see it.” Han looked so devastated at the idea. And then he noticed the bantha in the hold. “Oh, hello. Who’s this?”

“Han, this is our aunt and uncle, Owen Lars and Beru Whitesun,” Luke said, gesturing at the holo. “Uncle Owen, Aunt Beru, this is our friend Han.”

Han bowed in traditional Alderaanian fashion. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Your niece and nephew are wonderful people, and great assets to the Alliance.”

“ _Oh_!” Aunt Beru didn’t seem to know what to say to that.

Uncle Owen just smiled. “ _I always knew they’d do great things. I’d just hoped they’d stay and do chores a little longer. It’s a pleasure to meet you Han_.”

Leia laughed. “We’ll come back soon and give you a hand. Tell you the whole story. But right now, I apparently need to get my hair done.”

“ _Alright kids. Now you keep yourselves safe, you hear_?”

Aunt Beru nodded. “ _And don’t forget to call_!”

“We won’t,” Luke and Leia chorused. Then they hung up.

As soon as they did, Han attacked Leia’s hair with fervor. And Luke did have to admit, it looked nice when he was done.

Han waited on the top of the steps as Luke and Leia, Chewie, and the remainders of the Red and Gold Squadrons, walked up the red carpet towards him. The medal ceremony was just a token, to show appreciation for their efforts, but it was an important one.

Luke hadn’t had any clothes that weren’t covered in grease, so Han had lent him a clean shirt and pants. He looked amazing in the gold and black, and Han resolved to tell him so during the celebrations. And he didn’t know where Leia had gotten that dress, but wow. And with her hair finally, _finally_ braided nicely, she looked quite the picture. Carefully, he draped the medals over their necks. Once he was done, everyone turned and bowed, and the entire Alliance cheered.

They couldn’t stay for long. Immediately after the ceremony, people would be packing up, preparing to evacuate. The Empire knew where they were, which meant this base wasn’t safe. Even without the Death Star, it wouldn’t take many Star Destroyers to wipe them all off the map. But for now, they had this.

**Author's Note:**

> AKA the fic where Leia isn't prisoner for half the movie and saves both her aunt and uncle, Obi Wan, Biggs, and the entire planet of Alderaan. 
> 
> Edit 3/26: minor edit of some dialogue that was bugging me. It's when Han and Leia are talking in the cockpit 
> 
> Inspired by this [text post](https://ankkaneito.tumblr.com/post/189806587884/star-wars-au-where-luke-and-leia-are-raised) on tumblr


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